The “report” or “gunshot sound” heard when a firearm is discharged generally derives from two sources. The first source is the actual sound of the propellant gasses exploding, which emerge from the muzzle end of a barrel. The second source is the sound of the actual projectile or bullet breaking the sound barrier, if the “load” is a hypersonic load. Some bullets and some loads are subsonic, so in their cases, the report is primarily from the explosion of the propellant gasses.
Available firearm sound suppressors, also informally referred to as “silencers”, are of a generally cylindrical configuration, attaching to the end of the barrel of a firearm using threading or some other means of retention. A bore is formed through a number of internal baffles such that the bullet and expanding gasses emerge from the muzzle end of the barrel and then travel through the bore of the suppressor. The baffles within the bore are generally disc-shaped and oriented orthogonally to the linear path of the bullet (e.g., orthogonal to the axis of the barrel). Spaces between the baffles and bounded by the outer cylinder of the suppressor form one or more chambers. As the gasses enter the chamber(s), they are subject to various interactions with the baffles in order to absorb energy from the gasses, thereby reducing the sound caused by the gasses and/or the bullet breaking the sound barrier. The general configuration of these suppressors are, therefore, cylindrical attachments which extend the length of the barrel.